@Calus Glispie Got yo tell you are pretty bold to offer $1 earnest money in this market.

That is a red flag to me. 

3 red flags:1. 

For example, HAI in one of the markets I'm looking at is 245 . is this a red flag?

Even caught red handed you would be way ahead and wouldn't have to go through all their non sense permitting process and very likely wouldn't be fined if you retroactively comply with their inquiries.

A few years ago I helped my (retired) parents buy their most recent house by directly giving them a $100k cash down payment, and they would like to leave the house to me when they pass in thanks for the assistance (it ended up helping keep their mortgage extremely low since they are on a fixed income).They are very worried that it will somehow get caught up in probate or red tape when they pass even if my name is spelled out in the will, and wanted to see about just adding me to the title or something so that there is a seamless transition without any hassle.

Did you not see the Bold Faced text in the link I sent?

When your SF is down for renovation or being marketed for a new tenant, you have $0 coming in but you still have a mortgage to pay, so the month is automatically in the red, not even counting any other expenses, etc..  

I hope this post doesn't come off as negative, but I've seen this happen a few times and there's a few red flags that popped up in your post. $150k sounds terrific on the surface, but it took you 4 years to get there.

Put in bold letters something on there about late fees, etc.